


What Works For Us

by zarabithia



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Community: schmoop_bingo, Future Fic, Multi, Polyamory, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-31
Updated: 2010-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-14 06:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aang, Katara and Zuko take Tenzin for a walk on the beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Works For Us

**Author's Note:**

> Based on spoilers for The Legend of Korra. Sure to be contradicted by canon once we get there.

Tenzin celebrated one year of life last week, and his walking skills were still quite in the beginning stages. He walked, between his father and his uncle, tiny hands clinging to much larger ones as his tiny feet grew continually more unsure about the unfamiliar sandy landscape that kept causing him to fall.

His father was patient, but this was his first child, and his worry was easy to read. Tenzin's uncle, on the other hand, had fathered two children of his own, and he understood the need for the child to experience the tumbles freely and without too much interruption.

Together, the three of them bickered as they walked alongside the beach, waiting for the Tenzin's mother to finish her swim in the ocean, under the welcoming rays of the moon.

The former teammates didn't spend a lot of time at their beach side home these days. One of them was the Avatar, one was the Fire Lord, and there were three children and two marriages to juggle. But there were still days that Mai opted to enjoy her vacation time with Ty Lee alone, and on those occasions, Zuko was free to join his lovers, as well.

"I know, Zuko, I know. A little fall won't hurt him." Aang's frustration was easier for Zuko to pick out these days than it had been. Years of companionship might have been the reason for the change, or it might have been more accurately attributed to Zuko's increased age, or the burden of rulership.

Either way, the knowledge did not bring the delight it might have, at a previous stage in his life. Nor did it bring the equal amount of frustration that Zuko would have responded with, at other stages of his life.

Instead, he simply found amusement. "I look forward to telling Tenzin, in future years, that he was able to cause the Avatar greater fear than anyone else who ever tried, all by the age of one," Zuko informed Aang. "And that the source of his father's great fear was nothing more than a child's inability to walk on sand."

"Between you and Sokka, I hate to think what kind of stories Tenzin will be getting," Aang said, with a mixture of a sigh and a pout. Neither did anything to decrease Zuko's amusement.

"Our stories will be true, at least. Unlike Toph's, which I suppose will have more than their fair share of ...exaggeration." Zuko hesitated on picking the last word, but he opted for the kindest interpretation of what Toph's future stories might hold. "And mine will be even more true than Sokka's, because I know the Tenzin's parents better than he can ever hope to."

"You know us differently. But I'd hate to see Sokka's reaction to the idea that you know his sister _better_ than he does," Aang answered, with his own share of amusement.

Zuko might have argued the point, had Katara not chosen that moment to exit the water and join them on the beach. Tenzin attempted a run to greet his mother, and his little feet gave out on him yet again.

Aang knelt to help his son, and Katara turned a chiding gaze to Zuko as he shook his head. "You're mocking Aang again, aren't you?"

"No. I wasn't!" Zuko claimed. Then he shrugged and admitted, " ... Maybe a little," because lying to Katara never gave him a good feeling.

Tenzin raised his hands and tugged on his mother's shirt, pleased to discover that it was wet. She bent and picked him up. "I wonder what Mai would say about your reactions to your children's initial walking attempts."

Zuko did have the grace to look embarrassed. "Well, she'd probably tell me that I was being a hypocrite, at the very least," he answered, though he suspected his wife would have much stronger words for his actions. She usually did. It was part of why he loved her so much. "Because I reacted the same way. But then I learned that you have to let them get used to falling. Otherwise, they can't learn to pick themselves back up."

"That's a terribly cruel way to look at it," Aang insisted.

"On the other hand, you might say that it worked well for us," Katara said simply. She ran her fingers through her son's hair as Tenzin laid his head on her shoulder. She smiled at Zuko and Aang. "It's Tenzin's nap time."

"Then we should put him to bed," Zuko said agreeably. "Then continue discussing what activities have worked well for us in the past."

"And will likely work well for us in the future," Aang agreed.

Katara nodded her agreement to that plan. Aang slipped one hand around his wife's waist and another into Zuko's hand. Together the three of them walked up the beach to their vacation home.


End file.
